Low-mass suppression of the satellite luminosity function due to the supersonic baryon--cold-dark-matter relative velocity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the supersonic baryon--CDM flow significantly reduces the number of luminous low-mass satellite galaxies around Milky Way-like galaxies, resolving discrepancies between observations and predictions.

Contribution

It quantifies the suppression of low-mass satellite galaxies due to supersonic baryon--CDM flow, a previously overlooked effect impacting galaxy formation models.

Findings

Suppression of 50-90% in low-mass satellite halos due to baryon--CDM flow.

Resolves the missing satellites problem without invoking additional star-formation suppression.

Effect persists from early universe to present day, affecting galaxy counts.

Abstract

We study the effect of the supersonic baryon--CDM flow, which has recently been shown to have a large effect on structure formation during the dark ages 10 <~ z <~ 1000, on the abundance of luminous, low-mass satellite galaxies around galaxies like the Milky Way. As the supersonic baryon--CDM flow significantly suppresses both the number of halos formed and the amount of baryons accreted onto such halos of masses 10^6 < M_{halo} / M_solar < 10^8 at z >~ 10, a large effect results on the stellar luminosity function before reionization. As halos of these masses are believed to have very little star formation after reionization due to the effects of photo-heating by the ultraviolet background, this effect persists to the present day. We calculate that the number of low-mass 10^6 < M_{halo} / M_solar < 10^8 halos that host luminous satellite galaxies today is typically suppressed by 50 percent, with values ranging up to 90 percent in regions where the initial supersonic velocity is high. We show that this previously-ignored cosmological effect resolves most of the tension between the observed and predicted number of low-mass satellites in the Milky Way, obviating the need for any other mass-dependent star-formation suppression before reionization.